Twenty ten
A new year, a new decade, a full, blue moon, and time out of the village! Not a bad week at all! This is the year that I finish my service and come home, and the count is now under one hundred days, so all is looking good today.
The weather outside is frightful, but it isn't going to bring me down. It was warm most of the week, and even though it is colder now, and it will probably snow, it is, after all, January, and its doing what it is supposed to be doing outside. On Wednesday this week we had our holiday program at work. Like last year, there were poems recited, music sung, games played, and treats for all the residents. It isn't really like Christmas at home, but it was a good party for everyone, and people seemed to have a nice time.
This year things seemed a bit more organized, which shows planning and progress. It was a smaller crowd, and there was more time to prepare this year than last year, when everything was so new. There was a funny skit about the difference between village life and city life, and it was funny to watch people laugh at their own cultural idiosyncrasies. I tried not to laugh louder than anyone else, but it was pretty amusing! I did leave before the dinner was served as I didn't want to deal with the serving of wine to children, and feel my frustration rise with how hard it is to change a cultural norm like that. I have addressed my concerns about this with my co-workers more than once, and I have been told that it is not only okay, but expected, that young children drink at celebrations. When I saw the wine being poured early in the day, I decided that I wanted to leave at the end of the program before the meal. I am living here, in this culture, and I have given information to the staff that talks about the dangers of alcohol for children specifically, beyond that I just don't know what to do. So, except for leaving early, and not fully voicing my concerns yet again, it was a good holiday party at the Center.
New Year's Eve I travelled to Orhei, to stay with Macie and Craig, Teresa and Paul for two days, returning earlier today. It was a low key couple of days. There were fireworks on and off all night on Thursday night, last night was spent watching movies and relaxing before heading back to the village today. It was a quiet and mostly uneventful celebration, but I expect that there will be more celebrating for me over the next few months as I come home and get to see all of you! I hope that 2010 brings us all health, happiness, and hopes for peace and love. I miss you all. xoxo, Jami
The weather outside is frightful, but it isn't going to bring me down. It was warm most of the week, and even though it is colder now, and it will probably snow, it is, after all, January, and its doing what it is supposed to be doing outside. On Wednesday this week we had our holiday program at work. Like last year, there were poems recited, music sung, games played, and treats for all the residents. It isn't really like Christmas at home, but it was a good party for everyone, and people seemed to have a nice time.
This year things seemed a bit more organized, which shows planning and progress. It was a smaller crowd, and there was more time to prepare this year than last year, when everything was so new. There was a funny skit about the difference between village life and city life, and it was funny to watch people laugh at their own cultural idiosyncrasies. I tried not to laugh louder than anyone else, but it was pretty amusing! I did leave before the dinner was served as I didn't want to deal with the serving of wine to children, and feel my frustration rise with how hard it is to change a cultural norm like that. I have addressed my concerns about this with my co-workers more than once, and I have been told that it is not only okay, but expected, that young children drink at celebrations. When I saw the wine being poured early in the day, I decided that I wanted to leave at the end of the program before the meal. I am living here, in this culture, and I have given information to the staff that talks about the dangers of alcohol for children specifically, beyond that I just don't know what to do. So, except for leaving early, and not fully voicing my concerns yet again, it was a good holiday party at the Center.
New Year's Eve I travelled to Orhei, to stay with Macie and Craig, Teresa and Paul for two days, returning earlier today. It was a low key couple of days. There were fireworks on and off all night on Thursday night, last night was spent watching movies and relaxing before heading back to the village today. It was a quiet and mostly uneventful celebration, but I expect that there will be more celebrating for me over the next few months as I come home and get to see all of you! I hope that 2010 brings us all health, happiness, and hopes for peace and love. I miss you all. xoxo, Jami
posted by Jami | 12:20 PM
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